Death's Daughter

When the simplest of ingredients are in the hands of skilled users then we know we'll have good results. Sarah Leon presents us with one of her "odd drawings" that was done on a chip board envelope with a cheap pen and a white pencil.

Misunderstood girl
Wants to be more alive than
The striped socks she wears

You say that you find inspiration in our site, Sarah, but how can we not be inspired by the life you give to your characters of such humble origins. Thanks for showing us that it doesn't require an extensive art supply to make art that touches us.

[Flashback Friday] 5.24- Sand Skulls

Welcome to another addition of Flashback Friday.** This year the guest editors, Tatman, Azurafae, and myself, Citizen Agent, are taking turns reflecting on 17 of our personal favorite skulls from the previous four years of postings. So please join us as we visit the archives and add our additional commentary on some of the original pieces.

173. Sand Skull 1 & 180. Sand Skull 2

Sculpted Sand (approx. 3ft x 3ft) made on Bellows Beach in O'ahu, Hawaii

Sculpted Sand (approx. 2ft x 2ft x 2ft) made on the North Shore near Haleiwa on O'ahu, Hawaii.

Asian C says:

As winter is settling in for the long haul around here and the thoughts of many of our community being on the go next week, I thought I would share some happy pictures of a distant warming nature. Wishing all you a safe and happy week and remember that some of the best inspiration for skulls happen when you are outside of your regular surroundings.

**Flashback Friday was a weekly countdown of the fan selected top 52 skulls of Skull-A-Day 1.0. Each week during year 3.0 The Skullmaster posted the original skull along with some additional commentary in order from lowest to highest rated, with the #1 skull appearing in the last week of year 3.0, all 52 can be found here. During year 4.0 the editors had their chance to countdown their favorites Azurafae HERE, Citizen Agent HERE, and Tatman HERE.

Belgian Skulls

Artist Mark Goss currently creating art in Antwerp, Belgium sent us a collection of skull related pieces that he has completed.



Waffle C says:

The only thing that would make this collection of skulls better is whipped cream and a cherry on top. It truly is amazing the diversity of materials that you work with to create your pieces. It is a wonderful reminder to other artists not to be afraid to think outside the canvas and explore different surfaces. Thank you for showing off your amazing body of work, I wish we had the space to share more.

Deepa de Jour - "Feville"

On June 4, 2011 Skull-A-Day celebrated Skull Appreciation Day with an exhibit of over 100 skulls at Gallery 5 in Richmond, VA. If you didn't have a chance to make it to the gallery while the show was up, we now proudly present: "Skull Appreciation Day - The Exhibition".

Deepa de Jour- “Feville” $80.00

Deepa de Jour is a Richmond, VA based artist, book repair specialist, and burlesque dancer.

Please visit the artist’s exhibit page for information on if this work is available for purchase.


The 2011 Skull Appreciation Day - The Exhibition was a collective art show celebrating the 5th anniversary of Skull-A-Day.com and its tremendous audience of artists and readers.Throughout year 5.0 we will be featuring artwork from the show a few times a week. This is a chance to see all of the excellent skulls that were on display, and FOR SALE. Some of these pieces may still be available and this is a wonderful opportunity to own an original piece of skullriffic artwork. There are many well known artists who have contributed very reasonably priced works and many of them have donated their portion of the sale to benefit a great charity, the Richmond Peace Education Center.

Please take a moment to view all of the remarkable work that was created for the onset of this annual festivity. Your skull will appreciate you for showing it some love.

Dia de la Abby #66: Skeleton Family Portrait

I wanted to make a new family portrait, using ink pens and watercolor paints.

I wanted to combined my old drawing skills with my still fairly new painting skills. I like using watercolor, because it blends nicely and correcting mistakes is easier than acrylic. However, it's tricky because you can remove too much color from areas if the brush it too wet, or lay on too much color if the brush is too dry. After drawing this, I plan on making this sweater for my husband. He loves sweater vests. This updated version would suit both his style and morbid likes. The print on my skirt is of red flowers similar to a mum. My daughter's skirt has a large spider web and her shirt has spider buttons. I love using small details in my drawings. I think that's what makes them more interesting to make and look at.


Every other Thursday in the 5.0 year, I will post my own Dia de la Abby creations   Every Thursday in the 4.0 year, I posted my Dia de la Abby creations and occasionally tutorials with instructions on how I made my pieces. Hopefully you feel inspired by my posts just as I was by Noah's Skull-A-Day 1.0 daily project. Need more of me than just a weekly dose, follow me on  Facebook, Google+ and/or Twitter.

Stacked and Resurrected Skulls

Kal.x created these two images. The first was made from a photo of a skull stack. The second was made for a shopping center.

Stacked Skulls

Resurrection

I like the distorted digital work. The first one is almost dream-like. Reminds me of underwater relics of destroyed cities. The second one reminds me of horror movies of the bodies escaping from their graves. The foliage looks grown over depicting a deserted grave site.

Cherry Wood Skulls

Illustrator Vicky Newman working in London, UK told us: “I created these illustrated sugar skulls adorned with my illustrations to celebrate Halloween and Day of the Dead. The artwork is laser engraved onto beautiful cherry wood to give warmth to the line work.”

L-R: Anchor, Peacock, Dragon

Light Amplification C says:

I am always astounded by the diversity of techniques that our artists have available to create with. The amount of detail that you are able to achieve with this process is incredible, being an illustrator one would think you would need to give up some of your creativity in order to explore different mediums, but it appears that nothing was sacrificed here. Thank you for submitting your work for us to share with others.

Larry Pearson- “Quiet!”

On June 4, 2011 Skull-A-Day celebrated Skull Appreciation Day with an exhibit of over 100 skulls at Gallery 5 in Richmond, VA. If you didn't have a chance to make it to the gallery while the show was up, we now proudly present: "Skull Appreciation Day - The Exhibition".

Larry Pearson- “Quiet!”

Larry Pearson- “Quiet!” $200.00

Larry Pearson learned to weld in 1979 working in Des Moines,IA. He first learned to TIG and MIG weld aluminum running boards. Larry's next employer offered him the opportunity to do custom fabricating for other companies. One of the memorable projects was to TIG weld the seat frames and many other parts for the Super Man ride in Orlando, FL. In 2000, he was employed as a personal welder, fabricator and metal artist for a Commercial Real Estate investor. He created everything from the brackets needed for the natural gas service to Chandeliers for the "The Barn". During this period, Larry began to use his free time to create metal art pieces for friends and family as a hobby. In June of 2007 Larry became a full time artist and now runs Pearson Metal Art in Radcliffe, IA.

Please visit the artist’s exhibit page for information if this work is available for purchase.

The 2011 Skull Appreciation Day - The Exhibition was a collective art show celebrating the 5th anniversary of Skull-A-Day.com and its tremendous audience of artists and readers.

Throughout year 5.0 we will be featuring artwork from the show a few times a week. This is a chance to see all of the excellent skulls that were on display, and FOR SALE. Some of these pieces may still be available and this is a wonderful opportunity to own an original piece of skullriffic artwork. There are many well known artists who have contributed very reasonably priced works and many of them have donated their portion of the sale to benefit a great charity, the Richmond Peace Education Center.

Please take a moment to view all of the remarkable work that was created for the onset of this annual festivity. Your skull will appreciate you for showing it some love.

Chelsea Kostek- “Untitled”

On June 4, 2011 Skull-A-Day celebrated Skull Appreciation Day with an exhibit of over 100 skulls at Gallery 5 in Richmond, VA. If you didn't have a chance to make it to the gallery while the show was up, we now proudly present: "Skull Appreciation Day - The Exhibition".

Chelsea Kostek- “Untitled” $175.00

For information on purchasing this work please contact the exhibit curator at:

Chelsea Kostek is a designer with a strong aesthetic who believes in the beauty of objects around us. She uses everyday objects to create unique designs: headers from a car engine become the base of one of her tables; radiator parts and gears become centerpieces in her jewelry. Many of her pieces are inspired by vintage designs from the industrial age, which is no surprise because she spent almost two years photographing and curating a collection of over 2,000 vintage electrical household appliances.

The 2011 Skull Appreciation Day - The Exhibition was a collective art show celebrating the 5th anniversary of Skull-A-Day.com and its tremendous audience of artists and readers.

Throughout year 5.0 we will be featuring artwork from the show a few times a week. This is a chance to see all of the excellent skulls that were on display, and FOR SALE. Some of these pieces may still be available and this is a wonderful opportunity to own an original piece of skullriffic artwork. There are many well known artists who have contributed very reasonably priced works and many of them have donated their portion of the sale to benefit a great charity, the Richmond Peace Education Center.

Please take a moment to view all of the remarkable work that was created for the onset of this annual festivity. Your skull will appreciate you for showing it some love.

My new book Unstuck is in stores today!

My new book Unstuck: 52 Ways to Get (and Keep) Your Creativity Flowing at Home, at Work & in Your Studio is officially in stores as of today!

It features 52 creativity boosting projects, that are arranged by time commitment from 30 seconds to several hours, and is designed to be used by anyone, regardless of age, profession, or level of skill. 

The book also features interviews with a dozen of my favorite inspiring people and how they deal with their own roadblocks to creativity.

In addition there are sidebars with even more projects to get your creative wheels turning.

And it includes plenty of blank space to use as you see fit!

I hope you'll pick up a copy today. As always I recommend supporting your local independent bookstore if you still have one, but if not you can also order online at Powells, Amazon.com, Qbookshop, Barnes & Noble, and Chapters/Indigo.

Cemented Nut Skull

There's a local artist named R. Hayes in the land of 10,000 lakes(Minnesota) who invested a fair amount of time and effort to prove how nuts he is about skulls.



If you're nuts about skulls, and I know you are, then you have to admit that this skull is worth it's weight in concrete. I'm sure it took a lot of time to create the smooth finish. The look is great, very machine like, yet very scuplted and natural. Not to mention it's probably pretty hefty as well. Thanks for the heavy metal(and concrete) submission!

Skull Case

Krista Moreno stenciled skulls onto her hair roller and make-up case.

I love seeing a customization of a case that many of us use to store our makeup and hair styling supplies. Stencils are nice for a repeating pattern. I like the simplified style of this skull design. I bet the contents make for a hair raising good time.

Sunday Simulacra - Version 5.24

This week's set of skull hunters were especially quick to catch these temporary skulls.

Jane Capellaro submits this monumental find. "This skull is an actual image that I shot when I was at the Colluseuum in Rome in 2009. It is simply the effect of the light and shadow. I do not know if anyone else ever saw this or if I am the first."



Katie Longworth captured this snowy skull at a car park in Warrington, Cheshire, United Kingdom.



And Kipp Sully of Holbrook, MA, "Saw this beauty on my grill cover when I took the dogs out this morning."



Once again we have an excellent assortment from some keen skull hunters. Help us keep this tradition alive by submitting your skull simulacra. You never know where they'll show up.

Skatin' Skull Lady

Norwegian graphic designer/visual artists Tone Emblemsvåg created this seductive skatin' skull lady as a skateboard deck design.



It would be an awful shame to grind on such a beautiful design, but a skaters gonna do what a skaters gonna do. Thanks for the great submission, Tone!

[Flashback Friday] 5.23- Remembrance Day

Welcome to another addition of Flashback Friday.** This year the guest editors, Tatman, Azurafae, and myself, Citizen Agent, are taking turns reflecting on 17 of our personal favorite skulls from the previous four years of postings. So please join us as we visit the archives and add our additional commentary on some of the original pieces.

In celebration to all those who fight, fought, or sacrificed for the causes they believed in.

“In Flander’s Field*” approx. 20" X 20" composed of 51 handmade cloth coquelicots

more from the branches of the US Military:

From Al Asad, Iraq, "We are a small team of Marines and one civilian who have been operating under the Skulz name for the past five years. We thought it was appropriate to use one of your templates on our HMMWV. We wouldn't dream of destroying or altering US Government property, so we used foot powder”


From Khandahar, Afghanistan PFC Rupert Valero has sent us some outstanding action figures and other skulls with his email: "I started assemblage toys here while I am deployed in with the U.S. Army. I love skulls and incorporated some on some of my assemblage toys.”


From Kadena Air Force Base, Okinawa, Japan SrA Sean Richardson wrote: “I'm an F-15 Avionics Technician; serving in the United States Air Force. I was strolling through the shop the other day and noticed this old piece of equipment, and decided it needed a skull on it.”


Representing the Navy, our very own Tatman from Michigan, who has proudly served his country in the past.


* Links In Flander’s Field , Remembrance Day *

**Flashback Friday was a weekly countdown of the fan selected top 52 skulls of Skull-A-Day 1.0. Each week during year 3.0 The Skullmaster posted the original skull along with some additional commentary in order from lowest to highest rated, with the #1 skull appearing in the last week of year 3.0, all 52 can be found here. During year 4.0 the editors had their chance to countdown their favorites Azurafae HERE, Citizen Agent HERE, and Tatman HERE.

Digital Paint Skull

Jessica Brooks from Kaufman, TX told us: “I absolutely LOVE your site! Here's a drawing that I did in mspaint, with limited tools, but it actually came out in a way I wanted it to.”


Old School C says:

Oh the days of DOS it seems like such an eternity ago. Yes kids there was really a time before Adobe, Corel, or AudoCad became the standards by which we measured digital art with. You truly did an amazing job with the “limited tools” on this piece. Thank you for submitting your work for us to share.

Carra Rose - “The Beginning of the End”

On June 4, 2011 Skull-A-Day celebrated Skull Appreciation Day with an exhibit of over 100 skulls at Gallery 5 in Richmond, VA. If you didn't have a chance to make it to the gallery while the show was up, we now proudly present: "Skull Appreciation Day - The Exhibition".

Carra Rose - “The Beginning of the End” $270.00

Please visit the artist’s exhibit page for information on if this work is available for purchase.


The 2011 Skull Appreciation Day - The Exhibition was a collective art show celebrating the 5th anniversary of Skull-A-Day.com and its tremendous audience of artists and readers.Throughout year 5.0 we will be featuring artwork from the show a few times a week. This is a chance to see all of the excellent skulls that were on display, and FOR SALE. Some of these pieces may still be available and this is a wonderful opportunity to own an original piece of skullriffic artwork. There are many well known artists who have contributed very reasonably priced works and many of them have donated their portion of the sale to benefit a great charity, the Richmond Peace Education Center.

Please take a moment to view all of the remarkable work that was created for the onset of this annual festivity. Your skull will appreciate you for showing it some love.

Rag and Paper Skulls

Victoria Goulden made this "hand hooked Rag Rug work and mixed media/papier mache".

I love the look and feel of latch hook. This method that Victoria used works with long strips of fabric, vs the short sections of yarn that many of us are used to. This method also allows for a more freeform design, as you are hooking through fabric, not a grid canvas. I love the details that can be achieved with this style of latch hooking. These two skull pieces make me want to try this method my self. I'm sure my knuckles will prefer it over the canvas style.

I like the smooth features of this skull. Paper mache can be very rough and bumpy with the multiple layers. The sugar skull or Catrina decorations make for a perfect Dia de los Muertos mask. The beautiful designs would be a warm welcome to the awaiting spirits of the dead. Flowers are popular in the celebration. Marigolds are thought to be a pleasant smell to the spirits and guide them back to earth for the celebration. I can definitely see this mask being worn during the celebration and hanging in a house till the next year of festivities.

Alyssa Salomon- “All the Same under the Skin & After it All”

On June 4, 2011 Skull-A-Day celebrated Skull Appreciation Day with an exhibit of over 100 skulls at Gallery 5 in Richmond, VA. If you didn't have a chance to make it to the gallery while the show was up, we now proudly present: "Skull Appreciation Day - The Exhibition".

Alyssa Salomon- “All the Same under the Skin & After it All”

Alyssa Salomon- “All the Same under the Skin & After it All” $75.00

Alyssa C. Salomon is an compulsive, albeit late rising, bird watcher, a frequent kayaker, an obsessive bread baker, and under the alias "P Swann", the host of the satirical, weekly radio show, Can’t Stop the Music, on WRIR 97.3FM. She lives and works along the Chickahominy River in Providence Forge VA.

Please visit the artist’s exhibit page for information if this work is available for purchase.

The 2011 Skull Appreciation Day - The Exhibition was a collective art show celebrating the 5th anniversary of Skull-A-Day.com and its tremendous audience of artists and readers.

Throughout year 5.0 we will be featuring artwork from the show a few times a week. This is a chance to see all of the excellent skulls that were on display, and FOR SALE. Some of these pieces may still be available and this is a wonderful opportunity to own an original piece of skullriffic artwork. There are many well known artists who have contributed very reasonably priced works and many of them have donated their portion of the sale to benefit a great charity, the Richmond Peace Education Center.

Please take a moment to view all of the remarkable work that was created for the onset of this annual festivity. Your skull will appreciate you for showing it some love.

Edible Skulls

Today we have a collection of skulls that are so good you will just want to eat them up.

First up is Eric in Middletown, CA who made this skull pancake for his daughter Zoya.



Next Amy Jackson told us: “I was making a pizza and created this mushroom skull with a tomato beret... he was delicious!”



Last from Thessaloniki, Greece Alina Hoover shared: “I have followed your project for awhile, and I thought of you as I was drawing on some marrons @ work ;) ”


Growling C says:

Edible art is one of my favorite past times. I enjoy playing with my food as much as you all do it seems. Thank you for taking the time to capture these moments of creation before they disappeared forever to a better place.